War Rekindled
by cyberelf
Summary: *DISCONTINUED* It has been fifty years since the Battle of Hogwarts, and a second generation grows up without the threat of Voldemort. But a new evil is waking from within the depths of the Forbidden Forest that will change everyone's lives. PostDH.


**War Rekindled**

Prologue

"Ten years ago, there was a student at Hogwarts named Alexander Theobald. He was a bright young wizard who was everything the teachers ever wanted in a student. He was cunning, ambitious, diligent, and relentless in his studies. He was bloody brilliant, mastered everything he tried, and even invented a few spells of his own. He was also charming, handsome, and all the students were awed by him. Both the teachers and the students expected great things from him.

"Alexander always knew that he was different from the other students. He was so much more advanced than they were. He didn't have very many friends, partly because he didn't fit in, and partly because people felt inferior to him. He spent most of his time alone in the library reading, and it is said that he read every single book in that library, including the ones in the restricted section.

"During his fifth year, people began to notice a change in him. He was behaving very strangely. He often talked to himself, and would sometimes sit alone for hours doing nothing but thinking. He went around claiming that he could talk to snakes, and of course no one believed him, because the last person who possessed the gift of Parsletongue died without any children. The teachers ignored this sudden change, claiming that it was just the stress of the OWLs taking its toll on Alexander. Perhaps the students felt this way as well, because no one bothered to talk to him and find out what was wrong.

"However, the OWLs came and went, and his condition only worsened. The teachers began to grow concerned for his mental and emotional stability, and put him under constant watch. He began claiming that he possessed memories and emotions that were not his own. He claimed that he had a past life, and that there was another person inside of him, and that person was a murderous psychopath who made Alexander want nothing more than to torture and kill innocent people. Alexander claimed that there was a monster inside of him that was vastly superior to himself, and that sooner or later he would succumb to this powerful consciousness.

"Soon the Ministry of Magic became interested in Alexander's condition. They analyzed his behavior, and diagnosed him as mentally insane. When they tried to remove him from Hogwarts and take him to St. Mungo's, Alexander snapped. It is said that he went ballistic, and started killing the Ministry officials who were sent to retrieve him. It was the first killing within Hogwarts since the Battle of Hogwarts nearly fifty years ago. When all of the Ministry officials lay dead by his hand, Alexander, realizing the horror of what he did, left the castle and fled into the Forbidden Forest. The teachers and the Ministry of Magic searched every corner of the forest for months trying to locate him, but their search turned up nothing. Alexander had vanished without a trace. Eventually, they realized that some dangerous creature inhabiting the forest must have killed him, and they gave up the search and declared him dead.

"However, there are some who say that he still lives in some dark, secluded place in the Forbidden Forest. They say that this raging, bloodthirsty madman still lurks in the forest, waiting for an innocent student to wander across his path. When an innocent student, lost in the forest, wanders too close to his lair, he captures the poor soul, and subjects the student to unimaginable torture before murdering them and feeding the body to the forest werewolves-"

The small girl next to the storyteller let out a terrified scream, and covered her head with her arms. The young woman next to the girl glared at the storyteller and snapped, "Parvia, that's enough! Can't you see you're scaring Alma?"

"Sheesh," Parvia hissed, folding her hands behind her head and leaning against the tree behind her, "for a Gryffindor, she isn't very brave, is she?"

"She's as brave as any eleven-year-old would be when listening to that bloody ghost story," the young woman replied, wrapping her arms around the terrified Alma.

"But it's not a ghost story, Tori," Parvia said with a devilish smile, "every word of it is true!"

Alma screamed again and began to cry, and Tori stroked her hair in an attempt to calm her down. "Parvia, I said that's enough!" she barked. "Now stop trying to frighten poor Alma; she's traumatized as it is!"

"But I'm serious!" said Parvia. "I swear, this really happened! Just ask any of the teachers about it, and they'll confirm that it's true!"

"Sure," Tori said with a roll of her eyes.

"Fine if you don't believe me," Parvia sneered. She rolled her eyes and gazed at her surroundings. It was a glorious autumn day, and she and her Gryffindor friend had decided to take some of the first years outside after classes had ended for the day. Parvia enjoyed frightening the first years with the story of Alexander Theobald, but the lovely weather didn't provide a good atmosphere for frightening tales.

"Just take my advice, Alma," Parvia continued. "There is a reason the Dark Forest is forbidden, so don't go wandering around in there, or it might just be the last thing you ever do."

Alma wailed again, and Tori swore at Parvia and gave her a rude hand gesture. She helped Alma to her feet, and led her away, glaring at Parvia the whole way. When they left, Parvia let out a sly chuckle.

"I thought the whole story was rather fascinating," said the small girl next to Parvia, who had remained silent through the whole argument.

"You're braver than the Gryffindor, Aia," said Parvia.

"Tell me more about this Alexander," said Aia, "I'm curious now."

"There's not much more to tell," Parvia replied, "but if you want to know more about him, you can just go into the forest and ask him yourself. I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you about his legacy before he killed you." She laughed and rolled over backwards.

Aia raised an eyebrow at the laughing seventh year Slytherin and said, "I think I'll pass."

"Suit yourself," Parvia said.


End file.
